Complicated tax refund situation

[_Carissa_ 0]

Hi guys. I need some help. My husband and I have been married since September 2017. We are currently in the process of adjusting status. So, our first tax refund (last year) was filed separately since we had health insurance situation. We would get more money back if we filed it separate. It was suggested by CPA since 

1. I have had insurance via employer and my income was high.

2. My husband had Obama care and his income was low.

**He didn’t want to be on my insurance because he didn’t see it was necessary. That’s why he stayed on Obama care. He wasn’t aware of the consequences.** 

***We didn’t know the consequences of him being on Obama care till last year tax refund and was already too late for me to add him on my insurance. So he had Obama care the entire 2018.***

 

Now we are back at it again with tax refund problem. If we file together, we will have to pay 2600 dollars for penalty. But if we file separately, we will get more money back. But since we are in between the process and we need to prove to immigration that our marriage is bona fide, we are not sure exactly what to do. 2600 dollars is a lot of money but we don’t want to mess up our immigration situation.

 

as far as evidence that we have

- health insurance

- car registration

- auto insurance

- utilities bills

 

 

please help, thank you!

[Cryssiekins 976]

You can file separately.  You select “married filing separately” instead of “married filing jointly”.  It’s the “married” part that’s important. 

 

Usually a joint filing results in a larger refund, or in my marriage, a smaller balance owing, but if it works out better for you guys the other way, you can certainly do that. 

 

Edit:  you cannot select a “single” filing status.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Cryssiekins
Add’l info

[_Carissa_ 0]

14 minutes ago, Cryssiekins said:

You can file separately.  You select “married filing separately” instead of “married filing jointly”.  It’s the “married” part that’s important. 

 

Usually a joint filing results in a larger refund, or in my marriage, a smaller balance owing, but if it works out better for you guys the other way, you can certainly do that. 

 

Edit:  you cannot select a “single” filing status.

 Thank you! And yes we did “married filing separately” last year. I am just worried too much.

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

1 hour ago, _Carissa_ said:

please help, thank you!

As long as you file as “married” it’s fine. Nobody cares if it’s jointly or separately as far as immigration is concerned. You just can’t file as single. Otherwise do whatever makes sense and give you more refunds. My wife and I file jointly federal and separately for State. That’s what give us the most refund.

 

 

[Lemonslice 4,544]

Who's doing your taxes? Without seeing your return, I can't know for sure, but your husband is probably filing incorrectly.  

"[To] file a tax return using the filing status of Married Filing Separately" is making him ineligible to the premium tax credit 

 

source: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/the-premium-tax-credit-the-basics

 

if possible, have a tax specialist look at your returns.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Lemonslice

[_Carissa_ 0]

9 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Who's doing your taxes? Without seeing your return, I can't know for sure, but your husband is probably filing incorrectly.  

"[To] file a tax return using the filing status of Married Filing Separately" is making him ineligible to the premium tax credit 

 

source: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/the-premium-tax-credit-the-basics

 

if possible, have a tax specialist look at your returns.

 

 

Last year we had a tax specialist filing it for us. And he filed “married filing separately” since we were losing roughly 3k dollars if we filed together. I usually used TurboTax when I was single. I am thinking about using TurboTax this year.